Rolls-Royce

Our roving auction guy and contributor Bob Seidler was recently over the border in Canada and submitted this report on one of his excursions. So what do you do when your wife has a speaking engagement in Toronto and you have the day free? Of course, you Uber over to Legendary Motorcar Company in scenic Halton Hills, just west of Toronto. For viewers of The Velocity Channel, you know Legendary Motorcar as a mainstay of their lineup, dating back to the early days of Velocity when owner Peter Klute hosted DreamCar Garage. This was a delightful series in which two good-natured Canadians guys were buying, restoring and selling cars out of their garage.

From shooting stars to illuminated wood, the Wraith Luminary Collection encapsulates the extraordinary talent of the Rolls-Royce Bespoke Collective. Just 55 motor cars exist, inspired by, and created for those who lead where others follow.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has enjoyed a strong start to 2018, with the marque seeing a significant boost to global sales.Worldwide sales were up 13 percent compared with the same period in 2017, with demand for all Rolls-Royce models holding firm in Europe, the US, and other key regions. There are encouraging signs of recovery in the Chinese market; like all luxury brands, however, the marque faces continued economic headwinds in the Middle East.

A team from March CE Primary School, supported by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, made their mark at this year’s Greenpower IET ‘Gathering of the Goblins’, Britain’s premier event for electric-powered racing cars designed, built and driven by schoolchildren aged 9-11. Children in Years 5 and 6 were asked to submit designs for the car, taking their inspiration from the school’s pet rooster, Reg. The final design, created by the Bespoke Design Team at Rolls‑Royce Motor Cars, was an amalgamation of the three winning entries.

Rolls-Royce has appointed Melanie Evans as Head of Sales Channel Development & Customer Relations from 1 August 2018. She will be based at the Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood, West Sussex. Evans joined Rolls-Royce in 2011, initially as Dealer Marketing & Digital Manager, progressing to Head of Commercial Development and then her current role as Head of Bespoke Sales and Marketing. Her new position incorporates a number of unique functions, including running the company’s Private Office.

This is a serious project, and it is for a good cause, but it still might strike some (ok, us) as funny. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has announced that construction of a major development for the company is now underway. The district’s largest employer is building a new gated parking area on land adjacent to the manufacturing plant and head office, creating an additional 500 parking spaces. The development includes a dedicated car park for The March CE Primary School, located close to the entrance of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, including a ‘kiss and drop-off area’ and 40 parking spaces. The school car park incorporates a new road crossing, also funded by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in the absence of local authority funding. The development has received overwhelming support from local residents, Chichester District Council and Chichester MP, Gillian Keegan.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and Rolls-Royce plc are two completely and distinctly different companies. The two companies branched in 1998 after BMW licensed the rights to the Rolls-Royce brand name and logo from Rolls-Royce plc and acquired the rights to the Spirit of Ecstasy emblem and Rolls-Royce grill shape trademarks from Volkswagen AG. Rolls-Royce plc is a British multinational public limited company incorporated in February 2011 that owns Rolls-Royce, a business established in 1904 which today designs, manufactures and distributes power systems for aviation and other industries.  Clear as mud? Now that the groundwork is out of the way, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars issued a statement today clarifying their financial standing. This was issued after Rolls-Royce plc that it is scrapping thousands of white-collar posts at the jet-engine giant in a bid to redress the balance and unleash the potential of an 80 billion-pound […]

The Royal wedding. Yes, I am going there. Not being a true Royal follower myself, when I tune in to events such as this it is the cars that catch my attention more than there ceremonies. Although I will have to admit, this was actually a touching and important ceremony as it bridged not only the US and Great Britain but also the past and the future.  That bridging could also be seen in the combination of heritage and modernity seen in the most talked about car of the day. That most talked about car was the Electric E-Type used by Prince Harry and his bride when leaving the Windsor. We featured this amazing car a few months ago when it was first unveiled by Jaguar Land Rover Classic. The Jaguar E-type Zero not only drives and looks like an E-type, it […]

The New Rolls-Royce Phantom has been presented with a ‘Five-star Car’ accolade at the Autocar Awards 2018, which celebrates the best cars produced in the automotive industry over the past year. Introduced over 80 years ago, the famous Autocar road test remains one of the most thorough and exacting assessments to which a new car can be subjected. The New Phantom is one of just two cars to be awarded five stars in 2018.

When Rolls-Royce announced three years ago that it would launch Cullinan, it did so in the knowledge that its customers around the world had asked it to build “The Rolls-Royce of SUVs”, with luxury, performance, and usability not seen before in the SUV market. Many of these customers were younger, very successful high-net-worth individuals who are heavily engaged in the experience economy, and wanted a Rolls-Royce that would take them to the ends of the Earth in ultimate luxury. Automotive mobility has always been a fast-moving and dynamic business, with new concepts – such as SUVs – appearing with great regularity. But those new concepts need to be perfected in order to be adopted by those customers who will accept no compromise – the patrons of true luxury. Hence the Rolls-Royce Cullinan. Cullinan at a glance The most anticipated car […]

The extraordinary hand-craftsmanship applied to the new Rolls-Royce Cullinan will be the subject of an exhibition of images captured by the distinguished portrait photographer, Cat Garcia, in collaboration with Leica Camera. Showcased during London Craft Week, the images will take viewers inside the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, West Sussex, revealing the meticulous artistry lavished on the most anticipated car in the world: the new Cullinan SUV. The images, captured exclusively on the camera brand’s flagship Leica SL, will show the men and women who can proudly claim that their hands built this remarkable high-bodied car.

The Bespoke Collective of the House of Rolls-Royce has conceived a darker iteration of Black Badge Wraith and Dawn, presented in a limited Collection, named Adamas. Drawing inspiration from the name, meaning ‘untameable’, ‘invincible’ and also ‘diamond’, the Collective celebrate the darker side of contemporary craftsmanship, expertly weaving a dark aesthetic of unbreakable carbon structures into just 40 Black Badge Wraiths and 30 Black Badge Dawns. Technical fibers and molecular compounds are manipulated and recognized for their systematic, beguiling beauty. Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce, commented: Adamas is a Collection that fuses the extraordinary competence of our Bespoke craftspeople from the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, West Sussex, with the rebellious spirit of Black Badge. The result is a motor car for those who seek more than the definitive of engineered luxury conveyance. This is a motor car for […]

In the Spring of 2017, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars unveiled a seminal new concept in luxury, crafted for one very special customer, St Richard’s Hospital Pediatric Day Surgery Unit in the marque’s home town of Chichester, West Sussex. The appropriately-named Rolls-Royce SRH was hand-built to allow children awaiting surgery to drive themselves to the operating theatre, through the Pediatric Unit corridors which are lined with ‘traffic signs’. The experience of ‘self-drive to theatre’ has been proven to reduce child patient stress.

Three years after the beginning of a grueling testing program that has seen it conquer every corner of the globe from freezing snowfields to searing deserts, the Rolls-Royce Cullinan will undertake The Final Challenge to prove itself “Effortless Everywhere” in the public eye. In an unprecedented partnership, Rolls-Royce and National Geographic will work together to publish daily film and photograph updates as Cullinan undertakes trials in Northern Europe, the Middle East, and the United States for a final time ahead of its world debut later this year. The Rolls-Royce Cullinan will embody all the values and capabilities that drove Rolls-Royce’s two founding fathers, the Honorable Charles Rolls and Sir Henry Royce, to secure the marque’s reputation early last century, as they took top honours in rigorous public adventures such as the Scottish Reliability Trials, the London to Edinburgh event and […]

In a bold expression of dynamic luxury, Rolls-Royce unveils the Wraith Luminary Collection. Inspired by those who lead where others follow, the Wraith Luminary Collection will light the way for the luxury trailblazer. In response to an ongoing global demand for Rolls-Royce Collection Cars, the marque has created a Limited Collection of just 55 of these spectacular Wraiths. These motorcars join the highly exclusive ranks of collectible Bespoke masterpieces, envisioned by the Rolls-Royce Bespoke design team and collected by Patrons of true luxury all over the world.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has announced that a record number of places are available for the company’s 2018 Apprenticeship Program. Since the program was launched in 2006, numbers have progressively increased, with 2018 offering a record 24 candidates the opportunity to join the team at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, West Sussex. The Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Apprenticeship Program provides the opportunity to learn and develop skills at the Home of the world’s leading luxury manufacturer. The apprenticeships last for up to four years and include college and university courses that are nationally recognized, alongside on-the-job training at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

One motor car changed the course of automotive history. Today, the legend is re-told as Rolls-Royce Motor Cars proudly announces the creation of a collection of 35 model year 2018 Rolls-Royce Ghosts, created in homage to the original Silver Ghost’s achievement. In 1904, a pioneering motorist, a brilliant entrepreneur and an intrepid engineer were united by a desire to succeed. Three years later, this success was recognized by the world’s media. An unfathomable challenge unprecedented of its time and legendary to this day, was completed by The Hon. Charles Rolls and Claude Johnson in Sir Henry Royce’s ‘Silver Ghost’. The car achieved a non-stop long distance endurance record of 14,371 miles. This challenge was to shape automotive and luxury history, creating a world-renowned benchmark for excellence in the process.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has today announced its new House Charity for 2018, The Ickle Pickle Partnership. Colleagues at the Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood vote for their House Charity every year through a company-wide nomination process and the successful organization is supported through a number of initiatives. This year’s winning charity, The Ickle Pickle Partnership, turns gifts and donations from generous people into specialized equipment such as incubators and ventilators to help Neonatal Units provide the highest levels of intensive care for the smallest and most unwell babies.